10 GERMINATION.CA JULY 2018 INNOVATION. It’s a big buzzword these days. A Google search of the phrase “innovation in seed” turns up 96 million results. Hardly a day goes by when a new technology in seed or agriculture isn’t hailed as innovative. “Much of the innovation for increased productiv- ity and market opportunities for farmers is delivered in seed. Innovation carried in and on the seed can increase yield, bring health benefits and help reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint. However, in order to bring new products to farmers, the seed industry needs a policy and regulatory environment that fosters innovation,” the Canadian Seed Trade Association states on its website. Virtually everyone can agree that innovation is a good thing, and enabling it is even better. But what exactly is innovation, and how do we go about cultivating it? And why do some inno- vations take off while others languish in obscu- rity or fail altogether? “The problem with innovation is there’s too many different ways of being able to broadcast its influence. It’s like the blind man and the elephant — everyone has a little part of it and no one can quite describe the whole,” says Rohit Shukla, chief executive officer of the California- based Larta Institute, which specializes in turning innovations into commercially successful enter- prises that positively impact humanity. Shukla has advised governments, multilat- eral organizations, communities and enterprises throughout the world. As an adviser to the Malaysian government, he helped to influence policy on incentives and initiatives focused on agriculture- and biotech-led entrepreneurship. “There are many aspects to innovation. The way it’s been taken too often is that it has to be something so new as to transform humanity. That’s a tall order, and just because you might be innovating in some way, doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful.” Innovation as the key to success is a mes- sage often taken for granted, says Shukla. But, he notes, blind faith in the belief that innovation leads to a successful outcome for the innovator can often be a rude awakening for said innovator. “Of course, an important part of innovation is obviously the idea itself, something that has some novelty, something that adds to the body of what already exists. Humanity has already done so much; all we really need to do is look at the influence of our new knowledge, which is coming all the time from new insights in sci- ence. Innovation is linked, in fact, to ingenuity in science, to the aspects of creation that exist in science, but comes with tremendous uncertainty about the results.” Expect the Unexpected That uncertainty often leads to unexpected out- comes and barriers, according to Ron DePauw, senior science adviser for Advancing Wheat Technologies and also science adviser for SeCan, Western Canada's largest supplier of certified seed. The Canadian Seed Trade Association has dubbed him Canada’s “Billion-Dollar Man” because the incremental value of grain produced from his wheat cultivars exceeds $1 billion. The history of Canada’s variety registration system, DePauw says, is a perfect illustration of how innovation works in mysterious ways. In the early days of the 20th century, many seeds- men were busy selling different varieties of seed to an industry that was in its infancy. At the time, many of these seed sellers no doubt saw themselves as pioneers and innova- tors, providing seed to farmers hungry to grow crops in order to earn a living. However, that innovation led to consequences that negatively affected farmers, who were often taken advantage of. “All laws and regulations come about as a response to something. [Back then], anyone could promote seeds. Whether or not they were adapted, whether or not they had resistance, whether or not they would perform didn’t matter, because the money was made in the selling of the seed, not in buying the grain that resulted from the harvested end product,” he says. Creating something new and exciting doesn’t ensure your success — in fact, it could actually spell trouble if you’re not ready to face obstacles that may arise. Marc Zienkiewicz INNOVATIONOFFERS NO GUARANTEES Rohit Shukla of California's Larta Institute. Bill Aimutis, global director of innovation for Cargill. Wheat breeder Ron DePauw. Phil Kerr of SERIO Nutrition Solutions.